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Social media influencer Kai Cenat facing charges after giveaway creates chaos in NYC

Union Square chaos: People gather around and cheer for Kai Cenat (C) as members of the NYPD respond to thousands of people gathered for a "giveaway" event announced by popular Twitch live streamer Kai Cenat in Union Square and the surrounding area on Friday in New York City. Cenat, who announced on social media that he would be giving away video game consoles and other items, is reportedly in police custody after a crowd sparked disorder in the park leading to numerous arrests. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

NEW YORK — A crowd of thousands of people filled Union Square in Manhattan on Friday for a giveaway from social media influencer Kai Cenat, which led to riots and chaos in the area.

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The New York City Police Department made at least 65 arrests Friday that included 30 juveniles, according to WABC.

Cenat, 21, a livestreamer, is facing multiple charges that include unlawful assembly, NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said in a news conference late Friday night, according to The New York Times.

Cenat was released from custody overnight, according to WABC. He had no previous arrests so a desk appearance ticket was issued for his charges. He will be expected to report to court at a later date.

The incident started around 3 p.m. and was over about three hours later, the Times reported.

Cenat and another livestreamer, Fanum, announced they would be handing out PlayStation 5 consoles around 4 p.m. at Union Square, the Times reported. Cenat and Fanum are both members of a streaming group called AMP that has fans on YouTube and Twitch. Cenat’s YouTube channel alone has more than 3.6 million followers.

The event had no city permit, Maddrey said, according to the newspaper. Officers learned about the gathering on social media earlier in the day Friday and by 3 p.m. it had “gone viral,” according to Maddrey.

“It was uncontrolled. It took us a while to get it under control. And a lot of young people got hurt,” Chief Maddrey said, according to the Times.

Police went on to activate a “Level 4″ response, according to CNN. “Level 4″ is the department’s highest level of disaster response.

Maddrey said that the crowd kept getting larger and some individuals “began to commit acts of violence” toward the officers and other people, CNN reported.

Maddrey said, according to CNN, that people were walking around with “shovels, axes, and other tools from the construction.” He also said that some people had fireworks they were lighting and throwing toward officers.

Multiple police officers were injured in the chaos, according to CNN.

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